The relationship between physiological reactivity to provocation and emotion dysregulation with proactive and reactive aggression.

Biological Psychology
Alexander A Puhalla, Michael S McCloskey

Abstract

Biological theories of aggression propose that autonomic nervous system (ANS) hypo-reactivity may be more specific to proactive aggression, whereas ANS hyper-reactivity may be specific to reactive aggression. However, the research findings in this area are mixed. Furthermore, no study to date has examined whether emotion dysregulation moderates the aggression - ANS relationship. The present study examined electrodermal activity (EDA), respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and heart rate (HR) reactivity in 76-undergraduate participants (29 men, mean age = 21.49) in response to a provocation task relative to baseline. Results showed that blunted HR reactivity was associated with increased proactive aggression. RSA augmentation and blunted EDA reactivity were both associated with increased proactive and reactive aggression, but only among those above the sample mean on emotion dysregulation. Thus, emotion dysregulation may play a key role in the relationship between ANS reactivity and both reactive and proactive aggression.

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Attention Disorders

Attention is involved in all cognitive activities, and attention disorders are reported in patients with various neurological diseases. Here are the latest discoveries pertaining to attention disorders.

Related Papers

Child Psychiatry and Human Development
Daniel F ConnorRichard H Melloni
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology
Yiyuan Xu, Zengxiu Zhang
The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry
Daniel F ConnorRichard H Melloni
© 2021 Meta ULC. All rights reserved